The Master Thief Phantom Guide

Table of Contents

Overview
Skills to Steal

Stolen Skills Reasoning ​

V Matrix

Boost Nodes
5th Job Skills ​

Important Stats

Critical Rate
Buff Duration

Inner Ability ​

Bossing

Skill Management
Battle Analysis ​

Tips and Tricks

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Overview

Phantom
Class / Branch: Hero / Thief
Main Stat: Luck (LUK)
Primary Weapon: Cane
Secondary Weapon: Card
Link Skill: 15% Critical Rate (Lv. 2)
Maple Legion: 4% Meso obtained (Lv. 200)

Phantom is a fast hitting, high mobility thief who has the unique ability to steal skills from adventurer explorers, allowing you to customize your Loadout to best fit your battle environments! Phantom also has his own personal ship, Lumiere, which you can use as a safe spot, access your storage and more, whenever you want.


Skills to Steal

Out of all the possible skills Phantom can steal, the following skills are most important and used the most. Your Loadout can support four stolen skills in 1st and 2nd job, three stolen skills in 3rd job, two stolen skills in 4th job, and two Hyper Skills. For more information on each specific Stolen Skill and from which classes they come from, see the Skill Info section tab of this guide.

Stolen skills can be split into three categories; bossing, support, and training. Bossing stolen skills are typically the skills you will use at end game bosses. The support stolen skills includes helpful buffs and attacks that help out with gameplay. Training stolen skills are the skills that you will use for grinding.

Stolen attack skills are reduced by 10% attack power. This means that stolen attack skills deal 90% of their damage skill percentage. Some skills may also have their cooldowns increased and a duration applied. Stolen buffs have no penalty.

BOSSING SUPPORT TRAINING ​

1st Job: Dark Sight, Energy Bolt, Haste
2nd Job: Rage, Heal, Bless / Monkey Magic, Hyper Body
3rd Job: Cross Surge, Arrow Blaster, Holy Symbol, Blade Ascension
4th Job: Final Cut, Showdown, Cannon Bazooka, Hurricane / Rapid Fire
Hyper Skills: Bullseye Shot, Inferno Aura, Sacrosanctity


Stolen Skills Reasoning

Every stolen skill you may steal and use has its own reason. For further visualization of each stolen skill's application, see the Gameplay section tab of this guide.

1st Job

Dark Sight is used to avoid damage from falling obstacles in Magnus, Damien, and Von Bon, and to avoid stun from falling debris in Vellum.
Energy Bolt can be used during weapon cancel moments in boss fights, such as Horntail.
Haste is used if you cannot reach maximum movement speed and jump.

2nd Job

Rage is used for additional damage.
Heal is used at end game bosses and content where cooldown is applied to potion use.
Bless / Monkey Magic can be used as an alternative damage and support party buff.
Hyper Body is kept as a support skill for additional HP.

3rd Job

Cross Surge is used as one of your primary damage source buff.
Arrow Blaster is used during farming where you can one-hit kill with.
Holy Symbol is used during training for additional EXP.
Blade Ascension is used during Arcana's Spirit Savior dungeon for greater movement ability.

4th Job

Final Cut is used as one of your primary damage source buff.
Showdown is used as your main grinding skill for efficient farming and training.
Cannon Bazooka is used for training where it is more advantageous than Showdown, be it due to the map layout or damage shortcomings.
Hurricane / Rapid Fire can be used for easier bossing where using Mille and Tempest provides a difficult time.

Hyper Skills

Bullseye Shot is used as your primary Hyper Skill buff during bossing as it is more advantageous to use than Inferno Aura for the following reasons:

• has a cooldown that matches Luck of the Draw to maximize burst damage,
• has a longer cooldown than Inferno Aura (so you don't have to worry about the skill as much),
• does not require you to be near the boss,
• and avoids accidently ending Inferno Aura due to it being a toggle skill.

Bullseye Shot and Inferno Aura result in similar damage output on stationary bosses.​

Inferno Aura is used for farming and training due to it triggering Carte Noir for more farming effectiveness.

Sacrosanctity is used at situations where invincibility status is favorable to use, such as during difficult end game bossing stages to avoid death, or for advantageous purposes such as when equipping drop gear near the end of a boss, or completing jump quests.

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V Matrix

Phantom requires a total of, excluding decent skills, 11 must have V Matrix Nodes. Out of these 11 Nodes, there are eight that you want to have equipped on you at all times. However, you can optimize your V Matrix Boost Nodes so that you only need to use two Boost Nodes at a time, allowing you to save up on two V Matrix Node slots.

Phantom has three main bossing skills, and three main training skills. This allows Phantom to utilize the four Boost Nodes set up, which can be split into two pairs; one for bossing, and the other for training. This will allow you to save up on two V Matrix Node slots if you need to. Phantom has five 5th job skills, but only three are a must, one is optional, and the other one you do not need. There are also at least two additional Node skills that you will want to have on you at all times.

For further explanation of 5th job Node skills priority and build, see the Build section tab of this guide.

Boost Nodes

Explanation
You will be looking for a specific combination of Boost Nodes, known as Perfect Trio Nodes. Boost Nodes enhance your skills damage, and come with three random skills. Each level you gain on a Boost Node increases the skills in that Boost Node by 2% final damage, for a maximum of 100%, which effectively doubles the amount of damage you do with those skills. Boost Nodes can be leveled to level 25, so you will need two Boost Nodes with the same skill to reach the 100% final damage enhancement with that said skill. A trio Node contains all the relevant skills you want in the Boost Node. This allows you to get the enhancement on three skills using two Boost Nodes if you pair up the same three skills. But there is a catch, you can only use one Boost Node with the same skill at the top of the Boost Node. This means that you will want a specific combination depending on what perfect Boost Node trio you obtain first.

Note: It is highly recommended to craft Boost Nodes for your trios as opposed to only opening Nodestones in hope of obtaining a perfect trio. When you craft a Boost Node, you get to decide what the top skill of the Boost Node will be, which greatly increases your chance of obtaining the perfect trio you are looking for. It is not recommended to go the route of using three Boost Nodes, with two relevant skills in each Boost Node, to reach the level 50 enhancement with 16/17/17 Boost Nodes, even for unfunded players, since it results in inefficient use of your V Matrix Node slots, though you may use them until you obtain a perfect trio and then transfer the EXP over.

You will want to prioritize the three skills you use during bossing, Mille Aiguilles, Tempest, and Carte Noir for your bossing Boost Node set, and Impeccable Memory IV, Penombre, and Carte Rose Finale for your training Boost Node set.

Bossing Set: A = Mille Aiguilles , B = Tempest , C = Carte Noir
Training Set: D = Impeccable Memory IV , E = Penombre , F = Carte Rose Finale

Bossing Set

Top Node Skill	Bottom Node Skills
A / B / C +	B&C / A&C / A&B
C / A / B +	A&B / B&C / A&C

Perfect bossing set Node combinations would be A+B&C with C+A&B, or B+A&C with A+B&C, or C+A&B with B+A&C.

Training Set

Top Node Skill	Bottom Node Skills
D / E / F +	E&F / D&F / D&E
F / D / E +	D&E / E&F / D&F

Perfect training set Node combinations would be D+E&F with F+D&E, or E+D&F with D+E&F, or F+D&E with E+D&F.

If you are limited in Node slots, you can use the bossing set during bossing and switch in the training set when farming.


5th Job Skills

Phantom's main 5th job burst damage attack skill is Luck of the Draw , and second 5th job attack skill is Ace in the Hole . You will want to get Luck of the Draw to level 25. Luck of the Draw gains 70 additional hits from 420 to 490 when leveled from level 24 to 25.

Phantom's main 5th job burst buff damage skill is Last Resort , and second 5th job buff damage skill is Freud's Wisdom, which is optional due to its high up time commitment during boss battles.

Additional 5th Job Skills You Will Want to Have

Rope Lift is used for vertical jump movement where Shroud Walk cannot reach and to maintain its uptime for diagonal movement by using Rope Lift for vertical movement instead.
Erda Nova is used for binding your enemy during boss fights. Erda Nova should be used with Luck of the Draw to maximize burst damage.
Decent Speed Infusion is used when training and farming when using attack skills that are affected by attack speed.
Decent Combat Orders is used for a boost in damage when your 4th job skills increase to level 31 from 30.
Decent Holy Symbol is used for its drop rate boost, and as an alternative if you lack damage to use Holy Symbol as your stolen skill for additional EXP.
Decent Sharp Eyes should be used if you do not have a Decent Sharp Eyes Nebulite for the increased critical rate and damage.

Optional but Not Important 5th Job Skills

Decent Advanced Blessing can be used for additional damage if you have extra slots.
Venom Burst can be used for additional damage over time damage, though should not be actively used throughout fights as it disrupts your main attacks. Venom Burst is an important skill to have to switch out to during Damien's second stage to get rid of the damage reduction orbs through its area of effect attack.

For further explanation of what 5th job Node skills you should be using at what levels, and the priority of each, see the Build section tab of this guide.

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Important Stats

Critical Rate
As it is with any class, 100% critical rate is important, and especially on Phantom, since Carte Noir is triggered every time if you hit a critical line on your attack.

Critical Rate Sources
5% Base
35% Piercing Vision
15% Hyper Stat (Lv. 10)
20% Phantom Link Skill (Lv. 3)
7% Beast Tamer Link Skill (Lv. 2)
10% Decent Sharp Eyes
3% Night Lord Legion Bonus (Lv. 140)
3% Marksman Legion Bonus (Lv. 140)
= 98% Critical Rate

You may get the last 2% critical rate for 100% by placing two grid blocks on Critical Rate in Maple Legion and or by leveling Night Lord and Marksman to level 200.


Buff Duration
You want to have 50% buff duration for a 100% uptime of Final Cut.

Buff Duration Sources
20% Mechanic Legion Bonus (Lv. 200)
10% Empathy Trait (Lv. 100)
20%+ Inner Ability
= 50%+ Buff Duration

If you do not have a level 200 Mechanic and a level 100 Empathy Trait, and you lack enough Buff Duration from Inner Ability, you may put some blocks on the Buff Duration Maple Legion grid bonus as well.

Inner Ability

The priority for Phantom's Inner Ability is Buff Duration, but if you happen to get Boss Damage first and you have the funds to aim for 20%+ Buff Duration on the second line, it beats having Buff Duration as your top line, since you do not need more than 20% Buff Duration on your Inner Ability in order to reach 50%.

Optimal Inner Ability for Phantom
1st Line: Boss Damage (17~20%) - Legendary Line
2nd Line: Buff Duration (20~38%) - Unique Line
3rd Line: Attack (15~21) - Unique Line

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Bossing

Phantom's bossing concept is simple, but at times it can be hard to manage. Your two main bossing skills are Mille Aiguilles and Tempest. You will be rotating between these two main bossing skills while using Ace in the Hole in between and pairing up Luck of the Draw, your burst damage skill, with Last Resort and other burst damage buffs, such as Bullseye Shot and Heroic Memories when possible. As a reminder, make sure your Judgment Draw is set to Auto when bossing for increased DPM.

If you truly want to take full advantage of the buffs available at your disposal, the hardest task is keeping up Freud's Wisdom. You will find that often times this skill may interrupt you while using other skills, such as Tempest, in order to maintain the buff. You may even find yourself forgetting to pay attention to this buff while managing every other skill and paying attention to the battle itself.

Skill Management

Skill management is an important process during battles. You want to make sure you're keeping up your skills at all times in order to be efficient with your skill usage to get the most DPM you can.

During your boss battles, you will be keeping an eye on the following three different set of skills.

Bossing rotation set one: Mille Aiguilles , Tempest , Ace in the Hole

Bossing rotation set one consists of your three main DPM skills. Because Tempest, your main 4th job bossing skill, has a cooldown of 14.4 seconds, you will be rotating between Tempest and Millie Aiguilles. You will also be using Ace in the Hole, which also has a short cooldown of 15 seconds, in between Tempest and Millie Aiguilles. During the Mille Aiguilles and Tempest rotations, you want to time it so that you cast Ace in the Hole right before using Tempest, since you wouldn't want Ace in the Hole to be available while you are holding down Tempest. While Tempest and Ace in the Hole are on cooldown, you can use Mille Aiguilles and cast Ace in the Hole if it becomes available again.

Bossing rotation set two: Luck of the Draw , Last Resort , Bullseye Shot

Bossing rotation set two consists of your burst damage skills and burst damage buffs. You will want to use Bullseye Shot and stage 2 Last Resort right before using Luck of the Draw for maximum burst damage. Bullsye Shot and Luck of the Draw share the same cooldown, so these should always be paired together. You should always be using stage 2 of Last Resort; the decreased avoidability and increased damage hit should not cause death if used properly. If you have a level 25 Last Resort Node, you should be able to fit two cycles of Last Resort for every time you use Luck of the Draw.

Bossing rotation set three: Final Cut, Heroic Memory , Freud's Wisdom , Carte Rose Finale


Bossing rotation set three consists of the buff skills with cooldown. You will want to keep an eye on Final Cut and keep it up throughout the battle. Heroic Memories may be timed to be used right before Luck of the Draw. Freud's Wisdom has a total of 6 stacks, each one lasting 30 seconds, and a cooldown of 25 seconds after using a stack buff, with the requirement of using the skill again before the current stack buff expires to get the next stack, or else it goes to its full cooldown. This requires a high up time commitment, and should be used when you are comfortable you would not die in the boss battle shortly after using it, since it would be canceled and go to its full cooldown and no longer be able to be stacked. Lastly, Carte Rose Finale may be used throughout the battle, though it is low in damage priority. Rose Carte Finale should be used in boss battles where the damage over time effect would be advantageous to use.

For further visualization of each skill you use during boss battles and your control over skill management, see the Gameplay section tab of this guide.

Battle Analysis

Mille Aiguilles and Tempest with Final Cut provides the most DPM. These three skills, along with the damage from Carte Noir, are the main sources of your DPM, totaling to around ~80% of your total DPM. Mille Aiguilles and Tempest alone, along with Carte Noir, are ~2/3 of your total DPM.

Ace in the Hole can be a substantial part of your DPM, around ~15% DPM for most bosses, so you will want to keep this skill up as much as possible.

All of your burst damage comes from Luck of the Draw. In a 30 second Battle Analysis, even though Luck of the Draw lasts for only 7 seconds, it deals ~50% of your total damage. This means that if you want to make it count, you should stack all your burst damage buffs right before using the skill. This includes Heroic Memories, Bullseye Shot, and most importantly, stage 2 Last Resort. Overall, Luck of the Draw accounts to ~19% of your total DPM.

The following Hits per Minute Battle Analysis compares the damage ratio between Phantom's main bossing skills on a Dojo Dummy. Burst Damage buffs are not used. Level 50 Boost Node are included.

Phantom Skill DPM Comparison Source

Skill	Damage Ratio
Carte Noir	~33%
Luck of the Draw	~19%
Tempest	~18%
Ace in the Hole	~15%
Mille Aiguilles	~15%

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Tips and Tricks

Here are a few tips and tricks that you should keep in mind while playing Phantom! For specific tips and tricks for bosses, see the Gameplay section tab of this guide.

Loadout
You are able to use stolen skills at their specified job slot or switch around stolen skills and place them in a slot that is above their job tier. However, the Hyper Skill stolen skill slot is limited to only stolen Hyper Skills.

Bossing
Skill Transparency
Take advantage of Skill Transparency and lower it down for boss fights that are important to see.

Keep HP Full
It's important to keep your HP full since Cross Surge's final damage boost is dependent on how full your HP is. If your HP is not full, you will not be getting Cross Surge's full final damage boost, causing you to miss out in damage.

Important Skills
Decent Combat Orders
Decent Combat Orders is an important skill to use for the extra damage boost from it increasing your 4th job skills from level 30 to 31. The stat benefits include

• Skill Damage Increase
• 1% Mastery,
• 1% Damage,
• 1% Ignore Defense,
• 1 Attack,
• 1% increase for Maple Warrior,
• and a 1% Final Damage increase on Final Cut!

Judgment Draw (Manual)
Utilize the Auto/Manual Judgment Draw by turning off Auto for keeping item drop rate cards during farming and the healing card during bosses that restrict potion use and it is difficult to stay at full HP.

Penombre
Take advantage of Penombre's 20% ignore defense debuff on bosses when fighting bosses with high defense or when lacking ignore defense. This debuff also applies to your party members! The debuff is indicated on the boss, and lasts for 15 seconds.

Invincibility Skills
Take advantage of Luck of the Draw's reduced taken damage and invincibility. Your damage taken during the skill is decreased by 15%, allowing you to tank some one-hit kill attacks.

You are also briefly invincible after using Luck of the Draw, much like with Final Cut, which can be used as a survivability skill instead, in situations where your life count matters more than additional burst damage.

Carte Rose Finale
Carte Rose Finale can be beneficial to use for its damage over time effect during bossing and farming. Specific examples can be found in the Gameplay section tab of this guide.

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Written by DelusionDash Bera GMS. A Phantom main since release date.
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